'Runners' opener still in jeopardy

By Jerry Briggs :
August 27, 2012
: Updated: August 28, 2012 12:09am

UTSA football head coach Larry Coker (center) takes questions from the media during the team media day at the Convocation Center on Tuesday, August 7, 2012. The Roadrunners are scheduled to start their season on the road against South Alabama on August 30 if Tropical Storm Isaac doesn't delay it.

Officials at UTSA and South Alabama hope to resolve by today the fate of their beleaguered season opener.

Currently, the game is billed as one that will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. But it's far from settled that the contest will take place as scheduled.

It seems at least nearly as likely that it could be pushed back to Saturday.

Or, possibly, Oct. 6.

All of that because of a threat posed by Tropical Storm Isaac.

UTSA coach Larry Coker said after a Monday morning practice that he is preparing his team to play Thursday. But he admitted he doesn't think the team's charter aircraft can make it to Mobile on Wednesday, because that is the day the storm is forecast to hit the New Orleans area.

Mobile is a city on the Gulf of Mexico about 150 miles east of New Orleans.

Coker said there are numerous considerations in determining when it's best to play.

“We have a lot of options,” he said. “We can play Saturday. We have an open date (Oct. 6) that matches up. We want to play the game. It just has to be right for both parties.”

UTSA athletic director Lynn Hickey said the uncertainty lingered for another day because there is not enough information to determine whether the team can get to Mobile on Wednesday.

“The last information we got is that we just needed to wait and see,” she said.

South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann said he thinks there's “a fighting chance” that the game will be played Thursday.

“What we're looking at, if the storm continues on its current projected path, we believe there is a reasonable chance to have the game as it has been scheduled,” he said.

Erdmann said it will be up to the charter firm to make the call on whether it will be safe for UTSA to make the trip.

“They're the professionals in that field,” he said. “If they believe they can do that, and if we see that the conditions here in Mobile are reasonable, and not out of bounds in any way, we'll proceed.”

Erdmann said Ladd-Peebles Stadium would be available Saturday, Sunday or Monday because of Labor Day weekend.

In a telephone interview, Erdmann said he expects to see “outer bands of the storm” in Mobile that could result in 6-10 inches of rain today through Wednesday.

The forecast for Thursday, he said, is for moderate winds from 15-20 mph and a 40 percent chance of rain. He said the forecast for Saturday is nearly the same.

Erdmann said he wouldn't expect UTSA to travel to Alabama on Thursday, then turn around and play the game that night.